Networking architectures have grown increasingly complex in communication environments. This complexity has resulted in numerous protocols being implemented to ensure that network elements are directing packets in an efficient manner. For example, certain network elements may offer recovery and resynchronization to an architecture: ensuring that there is a consistent and an accurate routing of information in the network.
Consider an example case where there is a standby and an active endpoint. The standby endpoint can become involved in a communication stream with a remote peer in cases where the active endpoint fails. During the initial communication, there is synchronization data, which propagates during the communication session (e.g., sequence numbers). Where sequence numbers become disorganized or are inaccurate, network communications can fail. Stated in different terms, the tunnel or link is vulnerable to miscommunications in the wake of a switchover (failover) to a redundant process (or processor).
Thus, the ability to offer a system or a protocol that offers an effective recovery system for network elements (without hindering system speeds, creating unnecessary overhead, or taxing processing capabilities of network components) provides a significant challenge to network designers, component manufacturers, service providers, and system administrators alike.